The hospital room was deathly silent.
Owen Callahan finally looked up, opened his mouth, but only chuckled softly, "Aidan... I don’t understand what you’re talking about."
"..."
The expression on Aidan Sterling’s face instantly froze.
"What... did you say?"
Owen Callahan lowered his gaze, avoiding his cannibalistic stare, "What ten years ago? What Shane Donovan? Aidan, are you... mistaken? I don’t know what you want me to say."
Boom—!
Aidan Sterling felt a rush of blood to his head.
Mistaken?
He doesn’t know?
He dares to say he doesn’t know?!
Stella Sterling was completely bewildered, looking at one, then the other, completely unable to understand what cryptic message the two of them were communicating.
"Brother... What is going on? What ten years ago? Dr. Callahan, he..." she couldn’t help but ask.
Aidan Sterling ignored her, just staring intently at Owen Callahan, as if wanting to devour him alive.
He suddenly bent over, propping his hands on either side of the hospital bed, his face approaching him, his voice pressed low, "Owen Callahan, look at me."
Owen Callahan’s body stiffened imperceptibly, not looking up.
"Look at me!" Aidan Sterling barked harshly.
Owen Callahan slowly lifted his eyes, meeting the blood-red eyes of Aidan Sterling.
"It was you who told me back then." Aidan Sterling said, articulating each word like it was frozen hard, "Right in my family’s backyard, you were scared white as a sheet, saying... saying you saw Shane Donovan he..."
Yet his words were interrupted by Owen Callahan, "Aidan, I really don’t remember that happening. Are you under too much pressure, having some... illusion? Or mixing up someone else’s matter?"
"..."
The veins on the back of Aidan Sterling’s hand, resting on the bedside, bulged prominently.
Illusion?
Mixed up?
Looking at Owen Callahan’s calm and unperturbed face, an unprecedented towering rage nearly tore him apart.
In this suffocating standstill moment—
"Buzz... Buzz..."
The phone in Stella Sterling’s pocket abruptly vibrated.
She hurriedly retrieved her phone, instinctively glanced at the caller ID—Finn Lockwood.
"Brother, I... I need to take this call, there’s a matter at the law firm..."
With that, she walked out of the hospital room with the phone, the door closing with a soft creaking sound.
Only the two men were left in the hospital room.
The air seemed to freeze into ice.
Aidan Sterling’s voice was hoarse, nearly speaking word by word, "He threatened you, didn’t he?"
Owen Callahan’s hand under the blanket abruptly clenched the bed sheet tightly, "Aidan... don’t ask anymore."
He took a deep breath, "Tomorrow... on an early flight to Meridia. The ticket is already booked... after that, I will settle down there, not coming back."
He paused, his voice so low it was almost inaudible, "Never... coming back in this lifetime."
"Ha..."
Aidan Sterling sneered softly.
It all became clear.
Shane Donovan...
He indeed can do anything!
The only witness is being forced to leave just like that.
To go far away, never to return.
He retreated step by step, bumping into the chair behind him, making a piercing friction sound.
He did not look at Owen Callahan again, turning around, opening the door, and his figure faded into the dim light of the corridor outside.
The door slowly closed.
The hospital room returned to deathly silence.
Owen Callahan’s brows furrowed tightly, his eyes lowered, hiding the flash of coldness deep within them...
...
The next morning, before dawn, the airport expressway was shrouded in fog.
Aidan Sterling hadn’t slept all night, his eyes red-rimmed with bloodshot, his fingers tightly gripping the steering wheel.
He couldn’t just let Owen Callahan go—he was the only witness.
The car’s speed continuously increased, the needle on the dashboard trembling, reaching the danger zone.
At the entrance to the international departure hall, he instantly recognized the familiar black Bentley.
His heart suddenly sank—Shane Donovan had arrived first!
Before he could process it, he saw the black Bentley sharply cut off a taxi that was about to enter the airport expressway!
"Screech—!"
The piercing sound of brakes tore through the air.
The Bentley’s door opened, and a tall, stern figure stepped out of the car.
Shane Donovan was dressed in a black long coat, standing under the gray winter sky, emitting an intimidating aura.
He walked a few steps to the backseat of the taxi, suddenly yanking open the car door, and dragged Owen Callahan from the driver’s seat like a chick, slamming him into the icy ground.
"Ugh ah!" Owen Callahan let out a wail, his glasses flew off, sliding far across the road surface.
Aidan Sterling’s heart tightened, quickly pulled over, and rushed over in a few steps.
"Shane Donovan! What are you doing?!" Aidan Sterling glared angrily, "In broad daylight, are you trying to kill him to silence him?!"
Shane Donovan seemed not to hear his questioning, didn’t even look at him.
All his attention was on the trembling man curled up at his feet.
He lifted a foot, his shiny black shoe ruthlessly crushed Owen Callahan’s lower region.
"Ah—!!!"
Owen Callahan’s scream instantly pitched high, changing tone, his body curling like a shrimp thrown into a frying pan, clutching the injured area desperately, his face contorted in extreme agony, cold sweat soaking his bangs.
Aidan Sterling felt his scalp prickle.
"Stop!" He rushed forward, attempting to push Shane Donovan away.
Shane Donovan casually brushed his arm, sending Aidan Sterling staggering backward several steps, his back slamming heavily against the Maybach’s door with a muffled thud.
Just in that blink, Owen Callahan, surprisingly gritting through the pain, crawled towards the roadside greenery, attempting to flee.
Shane Donovan’s eyes narrowed fiercely, quickly catching up, he grabbed Owen Callahan’s hair at the back of his head, pulling hard!
"Ah!" Owen Callahan lifted his head in pain, his neck drawing a fragile arc.
Shane Donovan dragged him back, landing a heavy punch on his abdomen.
"Urgh..." Owen Callahan retched, his stomach churning, bile threatening to erupt.
"Please... stop... Young Master Donovan... spare... spare me..."
Aidan Sterling’s heart raced in alarm, he rushed forward, shouting angrily, "Shane Donovan! Are you out of your damn mind?!"
Shane Donovan’s action paused for an instant.
He turned his head, looking at Aidan Sterling, "Move."
Aidan Sterling’s expression was dark, nearly gnashing his teeth, "Shane Donovan, don’t think you can silence him and no one will know about your filthy deeds back then! He already told me! I know clearly how you treated Stella ten years ago!"
He was almost yelling, ten years of pent-up anger exploding at this moment.
The air seemed to freeze at this moment.
Shane Donovan’s action completely stopped.
He slowly turned his head, his gaze finally truly landing on Aidan Sterling’s face.
In his eyes was the brewing storm accompanying the mountain rain.
He released Owen Callahan’s hair.
Owen Callahan slumped onto the ground like a puddle of mud, barely breathing.
Shane Donovan bent down, a large hand grabbing Owen Callahan’s blood-stained shirt front, lifting his upper body off the ground, forcing those scattered fearful eyes to meet his own.
His voice was low, like it was from hell, each word tinged with the scent of blood:
"What did you tell him?"